


Burning Gold

by OfficerAerynSun



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 12:04:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7714243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OfficerAerynSun/pseuds/OfficerAerynSun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Tok'ra have operatives everywhere. Even under the nose of Apophis himself. (Multi-chapter work in progress)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Stargate or these characters. I'm just having some fun. This work is un-beta'd so all mistakes and typos are mine. 
> 
> I use the Sha'uri spelling because I just like it better. :D
> 
> This starts in Season 4 around "The Serpent's Venom" and promptly goes AU.

_They will not trust me._

**_They will._ **

_How? After all that’s been done?_  
  


The other gave no response. She did not _have_ one.

Two minds gazed through one set of eyes at the stargate. It was the only object in the dark crystal chamber, looming like a shadow over the woman who stood before it. She had already lingered too long. Her mission was urgent - every moment more critical than the last. Victory was finally within their grasp. Years of work on the verge of fulfillment -- work that would help more worlds, more _people_ , than she could count. And the terrible choice she’d made all those years ago would finally be worth the sacrifice.

_She needed to leave. Now._

But still she hesitated.

Slim fingers hovered over the dialing device, itching to move but somehow unable to. Her heart pounded in her chest as a long-fought debate waged in her mind. Two strong wills - though blended in mind and agreed on a common purpose - battled there. It was familiar ground.  
  


_I knew this day would come. I did -- I prepared for it…. I thought I would be ready._

**_Do not let your heart stand in your way. We have no time for this._ **

_And if he doesn’t want to see me? If he will not listen?_

_**Then he is a bigger fool than the rest of his people. But you know he will not turn you away.** _

_Perhaps…. But this will not be easy._

_**You made your choice, Sha’uri. Am I to doubt you now? After all we have entrusted to one another?** _

_No…. No, you are right. I will not fail. We will not fail. We can’t._  
  


A calming breath filled her lungs as she reached for the dialing device. With practiced ease, she began to punch in a familiar address. She had never entered this particular combination before, but the symbols were impossible to forget. They had been etched into her mind for years -- _this destination was special._ More special than she could put to words.

The symbol for that world was burned into her memory. Two lines sloping towards each other to a point, resting beneath a simple circle. For a moment, she was back on Abydos, tracing her finger through the sand, hoping to communicate with a man she had only just met. It was an act of rebellion she hadn’t fully understood then. How could she have? She’d been so _young_ \-- her mind, body, and future had been wholly her own. What seemed like a solitary act against her god had been anything but. That act of rebellion _still_ charged through every moment of her life. Every choice. Every action. Every outcome. And never for a second did she regret it.

_There would be no going back now._

With new strength, she locked in the final symbols and pressed the large glowing orb at the center of the device. The gate hummed to life. The inner ring spun and suddenly the walls around her were awash in vibrant, rippling light. But she did not stop to appreciate its beauty. The stargate had lost its charm - its _wonder_ \- years ago. With steely determination, she pressed a code into a smaller device on her wrist. It was a borrowed transmitter, one that would let them pass through the defenses on the other side.

_**We will do well**_ , whispered the presence that had briefly retreated to the back of her mind.

_I know_ , she silently replied. And she meant it.

With that, she mounted the low stone steps to the stargate. There was no hesitation in her stride now. She passed through the shimmering event horizon and was gone.

To the Tau’ri. To Daniel. To _Earth_.

 

_**To be continued….** _


	2. A Meeting

SG-1 was on stand down and Daniel Jackson was glad.

He’d found the perfect way to pass the time.

Locked away in his office, a pot of coffee brewing merrily in the corner, he pored over a set of Ancient Sumerian tablets. They were relics brought back by SG-4 and he’d been _itching_ to have a good look at them for weeks. But missions had called him away. Now -- _finally_ \- he had his chance.

For days, he’d been squinting at them under the harsh lamp on his desk, painstakingly translating each line and scribbling notes into his journal. It was slow-going, but he didn’t mind. If anything, that was how he wanted it. This was what he’d studied to do -- and for the first time in a long while he felt like his old self: just Dr. Jackson, linguist and archaeologist. No one to fight or brandish a gun at. Nothing to run from. No one to save. This was just... _peaceful_. And he’d come to the reluctant realization that he _liked_ it.

Because frankly, he needed the break. Badly. Not that he’d admit as much out loud, of course. Hell, he’d barely even admit it to _himself_. But the truth was, the past few months -- the past _year_ really -- had been hell. They had new enemies now. Enemies that seemed to be getting _worryingly_ good at hitting close to home. Even the sturdy force of the SGC had proven to have its weaknesses. And _still_ they had no sure way of defeating the Goa’uld. The NID was breathing down their necks, the Tok’ra had their own agenda, the Asgard had their own war…. and the SGC was left to forge onwards. Sometimes Daniel felt like they were going in circles -- for each wonderful new discovery they made, they could count on something else to drag them back. For every advantage humans gained, the Goa’uld found another one. Heavy loads weighed on all of their shoulders. And it was exhausting. Losing himself in these tablets was a momentary relief.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been hunched over his desk when his neck began to hurt. A groan escaped his lips and one hand went to his neck to try and work out the stiffness. _Oh, he’d regret that in the morning_. Maybe he should get up and stretch his legs -- or just grab another cup of coffee. It had to have been hours since he’d last looked up from his work….

But before he could make up his mind, something stopped him.

His gaze landed on a photograph, half buried under a few pages of notes. Daniel brushed them aside as his fingers curled around the frame. The photo that hadn’t left his desk in nearly four years. Thoughts of coffee evaporated as Daniel let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

_Sha’uri._

There she was. The heaviest weight of all.

She had been gone a year now -- _349 days, actually_ \-- and the wound still ached. Oh, he’d gotten better at hiding it. He smiled more. He laughed, he found new goals to propel him through the stargate. He even managed to mention her name less. And it worked. People didn’t ask him how he was holding up anymore. No one offered him meaningless platitudes about how he’d pull through or how she was _free_ now. He was left to mourn her alone. To live in those quiet moments when his eyes lingered too long on the girl smiling in the Abydonian sun.

 _But what did he have to show for any of it?_ he thought as her happy, judgement-free eyes stared back at him. He hadn’t made anything better since she died. Apophis was still out there. The Goa’uld were only getting stronger. And he’d even managed to add Sarah to the list of his failures. A part of him wished the picture would change -- that he could see his wife rebuking him for his shortcomings, that he could hear her urge him to be _better. It was no more than he deserved_. But her face didn’t move. She continued to smile up at him, yet untouched by the horrors coming her way.

 _God._ He still remembered taking that picture.  
  


_“Dan’yer!” she had cried in her native tongue. He could see the wonder in her eyes as she pulled the camera from his trunk -- the one that held every belonging he’d brought through the stargate._

_They were setting up their new home._

_“What **is** this?” She turned it over in in her hands, running her fingers over the various buttons and knobs. After a moment, the amazement became a mischievous smile. She tilted her head, a knowing twinkle in her eye. “Another one of your Earth magic tricks?” _

_“More or less,” he grinned back at her. It had become something of a private joke between them -- she knew full well that each unfathomable item he revealed to her wasn’t **really** magic, but it may as well have been. And so they would laugh, he would explain, and she would learn. Sometimes the tables were turned and he was **her** eager pupil. Those moments were his favorite. _

_“It’s called a camera, actually,” he said, lifting it gently from her hands. “It takes pictures -- captures images -- of, well, of just about anything you want. People, places… Like a drawing. Only much, **much** more realistic.” _

_Her brow knit in concentration, thinking over what he’d said. She didn’t know how such a thing could be possible, but she was **determined** to understand. “Show me.” _

_“Alright. Here - just a second.” He fiddled with the flash for a moment before holding the camera up to his eye. “Now smile.”_

_“What?”_

_He couldn’t help it. A goofy grin spread across his face. “Smile - it’s the tradition. Well, unless you want to be immortalized for all time with a **frown** on your face...” _

_She rolled her eyes, but it was no use. His grin was infectious. Sha’uri beamed back at him -- and a second later the camera flashed._

_Of course, he’d then sheepishly realized he **couldn’t** show her after all. He had no way to develop the film. His error tickled her even more. She had a good laugh at his expense before pulling him into a fond kiss. The camera and the picture it took were quickly forgotten._

_It would be more than a year before he saw the image he’d captured._

  
An alarm blared.

Daniel blinked. The memory of his wife’s kiss was gone and he was staring once more at the familiar photograph. Lights from the hallway reflected in the glass of the frame. Red. Flashing. He knew what that meant.

_Unscheduled off-world activation._

He sighed and pushed his glasses up to pinch the bridge of his nose. _Great_. So much for the break -- and the pleasant memories.

With a final glance at the tablets, Daniel tossed his pen aside and shut the notebook he’d been scribbling in. It was a shame, really. The inscriptions were promising. In fact, he was _ninety percent_ sure one of them contained a brand new verb form -- not to mention some intriguing references to planets they had yet to identify on any of their charts. And, on top of all that, it had just been - well - _fun._

Leaving the quiet of his office behind him, Daniel hurried to the elevator and punched the button to take him to level 28 -- the bottom of the old missile silo that housed the stargate. His fingers tapped impatiently in his pockets as he descended and nervous anticipation kicked in. Annoyance at being interrupted aside, these moments were not to be taken lightly. Sometimes they were nothing. Sometimes they were anything _but_. And with their luck? He wasn’t exactly looking to make any bets on which it would be _this_ time…

Finally, the elevator slowed and the doors dinged open. He headed straight for the control room. Inside, Sam was already seated at one of the computers beside Walter. A slight frown creased between her brows as she watched the flow of data on the screen. Whether it was a look of concentration or confusion, Daniel couldn’t tell. General Hammond stood beside her and offered him a brief nod of acknowledgement when he entered.

“Dr. Jackson,” he said before returning his attention to Sam. “What have we got, Major?”

Sam shook her head. “I’m not sure yet, sir. They haven’t sent any signal or identification code.” Her fingers moved with swift assurance over the keyboard.

Daniel frowned. “And SG-12 isn’t scheduled to return for -- what? Two more days?”

Hammond nodded. “That’s right.”

“Great,” came Jack’s voice from the doorway as he and Teal’c joined them around the bank of computers. “Maybe whoever it is’ll just _knock politely._ ”

“Oh, I’m sure,” Daniel replied dryly, watching as the armed airmen in the gateroom below took their positions around the bottom of the ramp. It occurred to him that maybe he shouldn’t find the sight so _normal_ \- that maybe, _just maybe_ , it wasn’t the best thing in the world that he’d gotten so used to danger. And not just life-threatening danger -- _planet-threatening_ danger. But, somewhere along the way, he had. Now the pace of the SGC, always hovering on the precipice between crises, didn’t faze him at all.

“Wait a second.” It was Walter. “I’m getting something. It’s…” He trailed off and instantly five pairs of eyes were on him. He looked up at them, surprise half hidden behind thick glasses. “It’s the Tok’ra, sir.”

They exchanged curious looks. Things between the SGC and their allies had been… strained lately. The bracelets, Anise, the Za’tarcs… the general unwillingness to share. It made for a somewhat _challenging_ alliance. Even the current presence of Jacob Carter at the SGC - on _vacation_ of all things - hadn’t done much to smooth the relationship. He _was_ kind of a special case, after all.

And now here they were again -- out of the blue.

Jack spoke first.

“Well, if they’re looking for anyone to play guinea pig, that’s gonna be a hard pass from me.”

The colonel’s tone was light, but Daniel could see the wariness in his friend’s eyes. He understood. The Tok’ra were their friends. Friends they wanted and needed. But they really didn’t make it easy.

“Sir?” Walter said, waiting for instructions from General Hammond.

The older man nodded. “Open the iris.” He leaned forward for the comm. His voice echoed out in the gateroom below. “Stand down. Someone find General Carter -- I think he’ll want to be here for this.”

“I’ll get him, sir,” Sam offered, quickly making her way from the control room to find her father -- and his Tok’ra symbiote.

“Guess it’s time to go put on the old welcome wagon act,” Jack said, a note of resigned acceptance in his voice as he made to follow Hammond down the stairs.

“You seem displeased, O’Neill,” said Teal’c.

“Gee, ya think? Those --” A beat. “Sarcasm. That was sarcasm, wasn’t it?”

Teal’c said nothing as they started towards the gateroom, but Daniel was almost positive he saw a hint of a smirk on the Jaffa’s lips. He couldn’t resist a smile of his own as he made to follow them.

“Really, Jack?” he teased. “And here I thought they were your _favorite._ ”

But if the colonel shot anything back, Daniel didn’t hear it.

Just as he rounded the corner into the gateroom, the calm event horizon rippled wildly and a figure stepped through.

Words died on Daniel’s lips as the world shifted beneath his feet.

The sights and sounds of the gateroom faded around him -- all he could see was the woman at the top of the ramp. There was a faint buzzing in his ears. The pounding of his heart. The sound of his own suddenly ragged breath. He was frozen to the spot. _Why couldn’t he move?_ Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was aware that people were staring at him -- but he couldn’t bring himself to give a damn.

A dream. This _had_ to be a dream -- an hallucination. _She can’t be here. It’s not possible._

She was _dead._

Dead and buried deep beneath the sands of Abydos. He’d _been_ there. He’d seen it. The agonizing memory had played over and over in his mind for months. He could still smell the incense they burned at her funeral, could still feel the warm sand slip from his fingers onto her grave.

Something between agony and hope coiled in chest. _This was a sick joke. One his tired mind was playing on him._ He’d been working too long or - or maybe those tablets were some kind of alien technology. _Yes! That had to be it!_ He’d been thinking about her, after all. _Whatever it was_ must have conjured her from his imagination -- happy to dangle his grief and guilt before his eyes.

 _This isn’t real - it can’t be real._ The charged seconds ticked by as his rational mind struggled to grasp what he saw.

But his heart already knew.

_Sha’uri. **Alive.**_

The question of how would have to wait.

Slowly, she removed the shawl from her head. Familiar dark curls spilled over her shoulders, framing warm olive skin -- just like in the photo he kept on his desk.. For a moment, it could be the first time he’d seen her. That he’d _really_ seen her. Back on that first mission through the stargate. She’d been so young, so terrified -- yet ready to do what she must for her people… even when it meant giving _herself_. She’d come to his room, lifted a veil from her eyes -- and stunned him to silence.

_Apparently some things never changed._

Her eyes met his and he stopped breathing.

Daniel opened his mouth to speak, hoping something would come out. But his throat was dry. He didn’t know how many agonizing seconds ticked by before he could manage a sound. His voice was raw, barely above a whisper -- as if it hadn’t been used in years.

_“........ Sha’uri?”_  
  


* * *

 

The first sound she heard on Earth was the resounding _clank_ of a boot touching metal. The second was the loud blaring of an alarm. It echoed through every bone in her body. Sha’uri blinked, orienting herself quickly from the rush of travel through the gate. There was a time when such trips had thrown her -- left her dizzy and nauseous from the rush, like every part of her had been scrambled up and hastily rearranged. She’d _hated_ it. Now, it was like stepping through a simple doorway. A moment of sensation and then _normalcy_. A part of her had always wondered if she was truly the one to have grown accustomed to the travel -- or if it was simply one of the many things she’d received from her symbiote.

_Perhaps the answer didn’t really matter anymore._

As the gateroom formed around her, she stopped at the top of the ramp to take it in. _How strange._ It did not look like she’d expected it to. The world Daniel had once described as his home was lush and green. Filled with trees and lakes and buildings taller than she’d ever seen. She remembered lying wrapped in his arms on Abydos, listening as he whispered stories into her hair. She’d closed her eyes then, and tried to imagine anything beyond the sands outside their door.

But a place like _this_ had never been in her thoughts. It was cold -- solid concrete and windowless solitude -- colder than any Tok’ra tunnel. The soldiers around the base of the ramp made the chill that much more real. Their weapons gleamed in the harsh fluorescent light, ready to strike if their leader commanded. Those weapons seemed primitive to her now -- but she knew well what they were for.

The other consciousness in her mind whispered that this was to be expected. This _was_ the Ta’uri, after all. She should have _anticipated_ disappointment. Sha’uri drew in a resigned breath. The years could only have built up Earth in her mind -- expecting it to meet her own imaginings was... unfair. And the task at hand was far too important to linger in old hopes and curiosities.

She lifted her chin, removing the shawl from her head as she took stock of the humans who greeted her. _Soldiers -- some she recognized from their brief time on Abydos. Jack O’Neill. Teal’c…_ But neither of the faces she sought was to be found.

One was Selmak. He was the _true_ object of her journey. _Well._ At least her orders from the Tok’ra High Council specified as much. Still -- his new face was nowhere to be seen.

But the _other._.. The one never mentioned in her orders, but who made Earth the most enticing place in the galaxy… After a moment, she saw him.

Sha’uri’s breath caught in her throat as a face so familiar it could have been her own emerged from behind the wall of airmen at the base of the ramp.

**_Daniel._ **

For a moment, words failed her.

Greedy eyes drank in his face like he was an oasis in the desert. _He hadn’t changed a bit._

True, a year was not much time. Not really. It was silly to have expected him to be much different than the man who’d stood beneath that tent with her a year ago -- _at the mercy of a weapon she’d never wanted to use._ To her, it felt so much longer than that. Each moment they’d been apart, she’d thought of him. Always in the back of her mind -- mission after mission. Regret. Guilt. Loneliness. _Love._

Words she had no idea how to say bubbled up in her throat. There was so much to explain. She needed to make him understand -- to _forgive_ her. But she was frozen. He was still too far away to touch -- he seemed locked in his own moment of shocked emotion. But still her fingers itched to reach for his cheek, to stroke his skin with gentle comfort. He looked too pale, too tired. Every instinct she had screamed at her to go to him -- to obey the gnawing ache in her stomach. To fill the hole in her chest that had been left gaping for so long.

 _ **Sha’uri**_ , the other voice interrupted sharply. ** _You forget yourself. We do not have time for this._**

_You do not understand. I never thought --_

_**Our minds are one. I know how your heart bleeds for him. You forget your pain is mine now…. But this is not the moment to let yourself fall. Think of Apophis.** _

Sha’uri drew in a breath. _Yes. Apophis_. Even the name still sent a sickening chill down her spine. She closed her eyes for a moment -- shutting out Daniel’s face. She needed to calm herself. _She would do him no good if she could not rise above her own heart’s desires._ She had lasted all these years without him in her arms -- following one mission. Now she had to see it through.

With a more confident step, she allowed the symbiote to take control. She made her way down the ramp, stopping when her boots touched concrete. Head held high, she cast her gaze across the baffled crowd. When she spoke, the altered voice of her symbiote echoed through the gateroom.

_**“I am Amaunet of the Tok’ra. I seek the aid of the Tau’ri and the one called Selmak. I have news of Apophis. News that will lead to his certain destruction.”** _

 

_**To be continued...** _


End file.
